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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Samuel Meade

Jordan Pickford breaks 55-year record moments before conceding first Euro 2020 goal

Jordan Pickford has rewritten the England history books during the first-half of their Euro 2020 semi-final.

The Three Lions No 1 had not conceded in the opening five games but was forced to pick the ball out of his net after Mikkel Damsgaard fired home a free-kick.

Prior to that though Pickford managed to break a 55 year record set by Gordon Banks.

The former England goalkeeper went 720 minutes without conceding.

Pickford's run of clean sheets helped him exceed that and he has now assumed the record. The 27-year-old will also win the tournament's Golden Glove following his efforts.

The Everton goalkeeper has had his doubters over the past few years, with his performances with the Toffees increasingly error strewn.

Gareth Southgate though has continued to stick by his man despite calls for Nick Pope or Dean Henderson to come in as first choice.

Pickford has rewarded that faith thus far, making several big saves throughout the tournament as England's defence provides a solid foundation.

He will have been disappointed not to have stopped Damsgaard's effort though, with it being relatively central.

England managed to level the scores before the interval after Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka teamed up before forcing Simon Kjaer to put into his own net.

Southgate has guided England to a third semi-final following efforts in the World Cup and Nations League.

He was confident that is players had learned from those defeats and were better prepared.

"We've just kept things as normal as possible, the players have gained big-match experience," he said.

"There's hardly a scenario we haven't been through, we have total faith in them that they're ready for this moment."

Southgate also dismissed any notion of pressure despite the favourites tag.

"I'm not sure there's any team that takes the field without any pressure, so I don't buy that," he said.

"We've got to deal with the expectation of being at home, we've had big matches already, and the guys have coped with that really well, it's good to be at Wembley."

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